NXT World Champion Drew McIntyre recently spoke with the folks at The Whig for an interview. Below are some of the highlights.

On keeping in touch with Jinder Mahal over the years: "We kept in contact with each other. Both of us would go back and forth about cutting the negatives out of our lives, both of us cut out the alcohol and the partying, which isn't productive for an athlete. We started eliminating anything that wasn't benefiting us, people who weren't benefiting us. We were just very driven and very focused and we were both on the same page in that sense. Our physiques obviously changed, when you train that hard and try that hard and you're that driven, pushing each other and pushing each other. It was so cool that our careers started mirroring each other."

On building up his brand on the independent wrestling scene following his WWE departure in the past: "The photograph of me there, on my knees looking at the title, that pretty much says it all. All the hard work over the past few years and busting my ass, the physical and mental toll. ... I was the busiest wrestler in the world and I wasn't home a lot, I was traveling through the UK, and every two, three weeks and these international flights nonstop and I was seeing my wife once, twice a month if that. She was encouraging me, pushing me, pushing me to be the best. That was very tough on me, very tough on her, but it was all part of helping the business and helping build my family's future."

On finally capturing the NXT World Championship: "After the show, [I remember] myself and Jinder in the hotel room, both with our titles, looking at each other and saying, 'Imagine three years ago if somebody said this was going to happen?' We'd probably have told you you were absolutely insane. But we did it. We believed in ourselves and it's a message to anybody out there who has a dream that seems impossible. Nothing is impossible. Just look at Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre."

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